Preview: Thunder look to build off Warriors victory against LA
A win over the Golden State Warriors snapped a four-game losing streak, the OKC Thunder look to continue the momentum into the season finale against the Lakers tonight.
As the youngest team in the league, it makes sense that the Lakers are inconsistent. Los Angeles lives and dies by the offense, which allows them to beat anyone on any given night. The good news for the OKC Thunder is that they can do the same.
Los Angeles is still nine games below .500 and on the outside looking in on the playoff race, but are currently riding a three-game winning after topping Phoenix 112-93 on Tuesday – they have a legitimate chance of beating OKC for the second time in one week.
For Oklahoma City in recent games, it’s been all about transitioning to life with Andre Roberson. While the win over Golden State was a step in the right direction, finding a replacement for Roberson continues to be an issue. That could be sorted out today with the trade deadline looming at 3 PM.
After their 104-108 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Oklahoma City Thunder are now 30-24. Here's how all #ThunderUp players have fared in TPA throughout the 2017-18 season: pic.twitter.com/VyianEDN3g
— NBA Math (@NBA_Math) February 5, 2018
In the meantime, Billy Donovan will continue to tweak the rotation. Terrance Ferguson has certainly shown his potential at times and has held his own for the most part. In the previous game, however, Donovan gave the nod to Josh Huestis in the starting lineup.
Meanwhile in Los Angeles, the Lakers have replaced the injured Lonzo Ball with Josh Hart and have seen good results. In his past three games as a starter Hart recorded three double-doubles, including 14 points and 11 rebounds against Oklahoma City on Sunday.